Puivert Castle, locally known as Château de Puivert, lies near the village with the same name, west of the town of Quillan in the Languedoc-Roussillion region in France

Of all the Cathares castles, Puivert Castle certainly is one of the best preserved. It was built in the 14th century.

With its 35 meters high keep in which four splendid rooms are superimposed, its 6 towers incorporated in its enclosure wall, this castle dominates the old glacial lake of Puivert below. One of the rooms in the keep has very nice carvings of 8 characters with medieval musical instruments on its walls.

You can climb to the top of the keep which offers a great view on the Quercorb plain to north, to the west of Montségur Castle with the summits of the Pyrenees behind it and to the east of the peak of Bugarach.

In 1210 the castle was taken after a 3-day siege by the army of Simon de Montfort controlled by Pons de Bruyères.

This is a great castle ruin and its immense courtyard must have seen great tournaments. It's a little out of the way for most tourists, so when you're lucky, like we were, you'll have this ruin all to yourself to explore.

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